This invention relates to mixing machines, in particular to food mixers, of the kind having a mixing bowl, a bowl support and a mixing tool engageable with the contents of a mixing bowl supported by said bowl support.
Typically, food mixers of this kind comprise a base, a supporting structure upstanding from the base, mounting means at the upper end of the supporting structure movably supporting a mixer tool extending downwardly from the mounting means whereby the mixer tool can extend downwardly from the mounting means into a bowl of flowable product positioned, on the bowl support, adjacent the supporting structure, the mixer including driving means for said mixer tool adapted to produce a mixing movement of such a mixer tool in a bowl of flowable product so positioned. Such a mixer is herein referred to as being "of the kind specified".
In known mixers of the above type, the supporting structure upstanding from the base takes the form of a more or less rectangular vertical column from the upper end of which projects generally horizontally an arm which carries a drive system coupled with a mixer tool, for example in the form of a whisk, which extends vertically downwardly from the arm and is arranged for example simply to rotate about a vertical axis or to make an epicyclic rotational movement about a combination of vertical axes relative to said arm whereby the lower end of the mixing tool, extended into product within a bowl supported adjacent the column beneath the arm, can be made to mix the product in the bowl. Because of the need for the arm to project sufficiently far horizontally from the vertical column to be capable of being aligned substantially with the middle of the bowl below and because the engagement of the bowl rim with the vertical column defines the minimum horizontal distance from the middle of the bowl to said column, the horizontal arm must be relatively long in these known arrangements and consequently the arm and the vertical column must be made fairly heavy and robust in construction to avoid excessive flexure under the dynamic and static forces exerted by the stirring movements of the mixing tool and the weight of the drive system.